Multi-hooks brackets, having their vertically spaced hooks engageable with the vertically aligned apertures of a multi-apertures column anchored to an environmental wall, are commonly utilized for suspendably supporting writing desks and other office equipment from the office environmental wall. A current trend in office layout is to utilize low elevational office-partitions to provide cubicle offices, such office-partitions including therewithin the multi-apertured column for removably receiving such multi-hooks brackets.
Drawing FIG. 1 depicts a rudimentary multi-hooks bracket, removably engageable with a modern office-partition or other environmental wall provided with a multi-apertures column. Typical multi-hooks bracket 100 comprises an arm 101 (for suspendably supporting the desired office equipment), said arm 101 having a vertical rear-side 102 and a horizontal top-side 103 extending lengthily laterally forwardly from rear-side 102. Bracket 100 includes a plurality of vertically aligned hooks 105 extending laterally rearwardly of rear-side 102, each hook 105 comprising a horizontal shank 106 extending laterally rearwardly of rear-side 102 and a detent 107 extending downwardly from the shank rearward terminus. All hooks 105 are of some arbitrarily selected uniform shape and dimensional configuration, and are of a prescribed spatial relationship to each other and to the bracket rear-end (102), such selected configuration and spatial relationship determining the bracket "model-design". For example, the bracket 100 has a unique "model-design" including L-shaped hooks wherein the detents 107 are of the same detent-height D, a regular vertical-spacing E between the detents 107, and a constant lateral-spacing F between each detent 107 and the bracket rear-end 102.
Turning now to drawing FIG. 2 which depicts a multi-apertures column 110 having its apertures 111 appropriately designed and spaced to permit mateable engagement with the "model-design" bracket 100 of FIG. 1. In this vein, each horizontal aperture 111 of column 110 has an aperture-height D' at least equal to detent-height D (with all aperture-heights D' being substantially identical), wherein there is between apertures 111 a constant vertical-spacing E', and wherein the horizontal lateral-extent FF of each aperture 111 is exceeded by detent lateral-spacing F.
Though the multi-apertures column 110 is anchorable to any appropriate environmental wall, such columns are oftentimes incorporated into upright office-partitions, such as that representative office-partition 120 of FIGS. 3 and 4. Typical office-partition 120 has an upright planar frontal-face 122 interrupted by a groove-like cleft 121 having a transverse width W slightly exceeding the aperture-width G'. A bar-like form 110A of the FIG. 2 column 110 transversely spans office-partition cleft 121 and is at a fixed lateral-spacing of substantially F from office-partition frontal-side 122. In FIG. 4, phantom line indicates the removably engaged condition for bracket 100 with the multi-apertures column 110A, parts 100 and 110A being necessarily of related "model-design".
The typical manufacturer of the multi-hooks brackets usually also manufacturers mating multi-apertured columns (usually in the form of office-partitions). Thus, the manufacturer is free to arbitrarily select its own unique "model-design" for the two mating components. As would be suspected, "model-designs" vary from one manufacturer to the other and are rarely interchangeable with components emanating from a competitive manufacturer. Because of the lack of interchangeability, the office equipment purchasing agent has practically no other choice than to purchase multi-hooks brackets from the manufacturer of the previously purchased office-partition. Thus, the purchasing agent is substantially foreclosed from seeking competitive bids on the multi-hooks brackets he wishes to purchase in the future.